The Voynich Ninja

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is the title of a 2012 short but insightful blog post by Ellie Velinska. I believe it is one of the best contributions I have read about the Rosettes page.

Ellie's interpretation requires to turn the South-East Rosette according to the orientation of the text. The result is a couple of tents. That interpretation explains several details in the illustration:

• The two larger rectangular areas, decorated by different patterns: the one on the left is split into four triangles joining at the centre; the one on the right is more simply decorated by parallel patterns;
  
• The six parallel cylinders that appear below the rectangles (three for each structure): this interpretation explains why they are cylindrical, why they are parallel and why they are below the rectangles; the cylindrical shape of the objects is particularly clear in the first and third from the left.
  
• A bronze object known as You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. was used to support the poles of the tents. This one is monumental, but I guess others were considerable smaller. Zhighris  could correspond to the thicker part of some of the poles near the ground;
  
• In both structures, the lower part of the rectangle features a parallel wavy area that extends towards the ground. This area appears to be in front of the upper part of the poles in the left structure and behind the upper part of the poles in the right structure. Following Ellie's idea, these areas represent fringes or tissue hanging at the site of the baldaquin.
  

Here I have added colour and shades, trying to make the three-dimensional interpretation of the drawing easier to see. The image on the right is from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (Mughal Empire, 1590 ca).

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Original illustration:
It seems clear to me that the two baldachins have a symbolic function: the rest of the circle is filled with patterns (stars, mountains/clouds, unidentifiable "flows") that seem suggestive of a cosmological meaning.


I like that Ellie's interpretations accounts for both structures. Some (e.g. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) have seen the top of the left structure as an illustration of the rivers of paradise, but this interpretation ignores the other details (the poles and the fringes) and the fact that two complex and similar structures appear side by side. 
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Mark's recent You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. as a cloister and a herb-garden has similar problems: the poles, the fringes and the similarity between the two structures remains unexplained.


Also, the two baldaquins relate well with the much more bizarre structure in the central rosette: even here we see a flat horizontal surface supported by vertical "pillars" that in this case are shaped like "pharma" containers. Ellie's interpretation catches the overall 3D nature of the diagram.

Besides discussing the rectangular structures, Ellie also notes that other rosettes look like pavilions seen from above. This is particularly clear in the South rosette, where one can see what could be ropes and knots holding in place a circular tent (or canopy).

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This tent/canopy motif recurring in the Rosettes diagram could also be related with the "umbrellas" in Q13 (see discussion You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. by Karl Lehmann, on Jstor). The motif is traditionally related with heaven, and the presence of stars on several of the Rosettes canopies reinforces the possibility of a connection.

That's a totally cool parallel, Marco (the Mughal tent illustration).

I'm still leaning toward it being a garden (with rows of plants and a decorative fountain garden) but Ellie and you have done such a masterful job of making a counter-argument I really like it.

I think it's quite possible that this is a tent, I always try to keep that possibility at the back of my mind...



I also think it might be a dome and the tracery is where it vaults down to the walls. I must have collected 800 or so pictures of domes looking for one that has these particular patterns but didn't score a bingo.


One detail that maybe makes a stronger argument for a tent is that wiggly line on the left. It could be a tent flap.


People were always on the move in the Middle Ages. When you read about the nobility, they were constantly on the road surveying their domains and putting in an appearance to continue to establish their property rights. Moving trunks were used as furniture when they were in one of their many residences, because it was a practical way to store things until the next move and to have them ready in case they had to flee an attack.

(08-10-2019, 03:18 PM)-JKP- Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.One detail that maybe makes a stronger argument for a tent is that wiggly line on the left. It could be a tent flap.

Thank you! That detail might deserve some further investigation...

Thank you Marco (and Ellie) - I think that it's a really interesting suggestion. JKP I had similar thoughts about that rosette just because those design elements look so much like gothic architecture.

There's a lovely photographic angle of Paris, Saint-Chapelle that even combines the tents, the stars and the vaulting:



You'll have to Google for a bigger image because I couldn't find one that was a) bigger b) well-lit and c) copyright-free.

(08-10-2019, 03:45 PM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

(08-10-2019, 03:18 PM)-JKP- Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.One detail that maybe makes a stronger argument for a tent is that wiggly line on the left. It could be a tent flap.

Thank you! That detail might deserve some further investigation...

 In my blog, I also paid attention to this fringe, maybe this is the place for lacing the dome for ease of transportation and rapid assembly (disassembly). In addition, the uneven distribution of the dome attachment points around the circumference may indicate the concave nature of the dome and the fact that it has a downward inclination of the figure. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

(08-10-2019, 04:18 PM)arca_libraria Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.There's a lovely photographic angle of Paris, Saint-Chapelle that even combines the tents, the stars and the vaulting

Thank you! And here is a star-decorated pavilion in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (France, XV Century).

The lines coming from the 2 gardens, one for herbs and one for trees, are aqueducts feeding the gardens a constant supply of water.
Interesting read. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

(08-10-2019, 04:26 PM)Wladimir D Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.In my blog, I also paid attention to this fringe, maybe this is the place for lacing the dome for ease of transportation and rapid assembly (disassembly). In addition, the uneven distribution of the dome attachment points around the circumference may indicate the concave nature of the dome and the fact that it has a downward inclination of the figure. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Russian to English google translate is far from perfect, but Wladimir's blog includes several self-explaining illustrations.

From what I understand, he agrees that these are cloth structures, but his idea is that they are water-collecting devices, rather than proper tents. This applies both to the circular / conical "tents" and to the two rectangular "baldachins".


As also suggested by JKP, he interprets "the wiggly line" in the South Rosette as some kind of lacing.

Interesting thread. I had never considered tents because the poles' relative thickness makes them look like pillars. And the perspective seems off. But the way you  color them makes sense. I certainly agree that the circular one looks like a tent seen from above.

Off the top of my head, I associate tents in medieval art with two things in particular, i.e. certain Old Testament scenes, and war. But there's certainly more, it's not something I've studied in detail.